. good morning. tragedy in minneapolis. four people dead. four others injured after a gunman opened fire inside a business. the alleged shooter believed to be a former employee. we're live at the scene. foul play with football players as young as 10 years o given cash incentives for big hits that knocked opposing players out of the game. this morning, what both parents and coaches are saying about the investigation. and world's worst proposal. a pilot tricks his girlfriend into believing their plane is in trouble. he asks her to read the emergency manual which turns out to be an elaborate marriage proposal. did she still say yes?

we'll tell you today, friday, september 28th, 2012. captions paid for by nbc-universal television from nbc news, this is "today" with matt lauer and savannah guthrie live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and good morning, everyone. welcome to "today" on a friday morning. i'm savannah guthrie. >> and i'm willie geist in for matt on assignment. a lot of unanswers questions about that deadly shooting. >> it happened in a sign-making business. the shooter is dead from an apparent self-inflicted wound. we are going to get the latest on this story in a live report straight ahead. also, a lock ahead to next week's first presidential debate. will it be make or break for mitt romney? we've got our political dream team of brokaw, gregory and todd all here to weigh in this morning. all right. and then on thursday you'll remember david goggins kicked

off his "guinness world record" attempts to do most powellups in 24 hours. well, there's been a significant develop overnight, and we will talk to david about it coming up. but we want to begin with that deadly shooting at a business in minneapolis. nbc's kevin tibbles is there. kevin, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, witnesses say the alleged 36-year-old shooter may have been fired from his job here at the accent sign company behind me yesterday morning. it turned an afternoon very tragic when he opened fire on fellow employees. by the time he was done, five were dead, including the shooter himself, who turned the gun on himself. a woman living near this sign company late thursday afternoon says one worker took shelter in her home for about 30 minutes. >> he came running up the side of the front, the garage and asked my husband if he could use the phone. he said he was running from the shooter. he had watched his boss get shot

and his best friend and two other people. it's tragic. it's really tragic. >> reporter: victims were taken to a local hospital. three initially listed in critical condition. the shooter police say was found in the basement of the building. >> i can confirm that the shooter is dead, and he had died by gunshot wound, self-inflicted. >> we are deeply, deeply sorry about what has happened here. the employees are together and are being cared for. >> reporter: the business is located in a residential neighborhood here in minneapolis. neighbors were stunned. >> it's insane. it's crazy. i know the guy. i know all the people in there. the one that was doing the shooting was a quiet, health himself kind of guy, kind of odd. >> reporter: savannah, four other shooting victims were taken to the hospital where this morning three of them remain in critical condition. savannah? >> all right.

kevin tibbles in minneapolis, thank you. and now let's get a check of the morning's other top stories. for that we send it over to the news desk and natalie morales. good morning, natalie. >> good morning, willie and savannah. good morning, everyone. a stern warning to the united nations as the prime minister of israel draws the line on iran's nuclear program. nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. andrea, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, natalie. for the first time israel's prime minister issued a firm deadline to iran for possible military action using a simple drawing to warn the u.n. that israel believes iran will reach the point of no return on its nuclear program in just a matter of months. secretary of state hillary clinton met with benjamin netanyahu. president obama was campaigning in virginia thursday, the white house said too busy to meet with the prime minister. earlier he laid down his red lines for stopping iran's nuclear program. >> this is a bomb. this is a fuse. >> reporter: netanyahu spoke a day after iran's president ahmadinejad from the same podium had called israel uncivilized

zionists. netanyahu said tehran was already 70% towards getting enough nuclear fuel for a bomb and has to be stopped within months. >> if these are the facts, and they are, where should a red line be drawn? a red line should be drawn right here. >> reporter: president obama told the u.n. this week there is more time before iran reaches a point of no return. >> america wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. >> american intelligence does not yet believe iran has made the political decision to actually build a weapon. what does israel think? >> whether or not iran made the decision will become irrelevant once we can no longer stop it. >> reporter: president obama's relationship with netanyahu has been difficult, at times frosty. an issue mitt romney has tried to exploit. >> president obama has thrown allies like israel under the bus. >> reporter: israel and the white house are now trying to paper over their differences, at least until after the election,

and it's not clear when israel's tough talk this week is aimed at accomplishing what sanctions have not, getting iran to negotiate. natalie. >> andrea mitchell, thanks so much. the man who shot an anti-islam video that sparked deadly protests across the muslim world is behind bars this morning. california officials say nakoula bassely nakoula was in violation of his probation for a 2010 tax fraud conviction. he's being held without bail as the judge said he poses a flight risk. a bizarre and shocking end for a rising actor in los angeles. police say former "sons of anarchy" actor johnny lewis beat his 81-year-old landlady to death, attacked and bit two other men nearby and then fell or jumped to his own death from the roof. officials say he also savagely killed his landlady's cat in a strange rampage. lewis had been arrested three times this year, and a probation report from back in may shows that police feared the 28-year-old suffered from serious chemical dependency or mental health problems.

nasa's curiosity rover is beaming back new clues about the red planet's ancient and watery past. these images suggest that a waist-deep stream once rushed through the spot on mars. the most convincing proof of water on mars to date, scientists say the rounded pebbles likely shaped by fast-moving water are truly an exciting find. and love is in the air, but would you say yes to a proposal like this? pilot ryan thompson tricked his girlfriend into believing their plane was about to crash, as they flew over chicago. as co-pilot he asked her to then read the emergency procedure. so ryan initiated the ring

engagement procedure by pulling the ring from his question and popping the question. she said yes, but then she did have a question of her own. was there really an emergency? and even when she learned it was all a stunt, she didn't take back her yes. wish them a long, long and happy life together. >> no kidding. >> back over to savannah and willie. boy, she's got to have a sense of humor. >> why do i think we're not going to see a flood of marriage proposals that go like that. >> i used to -- >> not the way to go. >> i used to think the proposal on the scoreboard was the worst way to do it. we have a new winner. >> all right. natalie, thanks. let's get a check of the weather. al is out in los angeles this morning. al, good morning to you. >> well, he's really lucky she didn't pull the ejector seat during the ring engagement procedure. good morning, everybody. wet weather to talk about in different parts of the country. first of all we start down in texas where we have flash flood watches. that's because we got heavy rain as low pressure makes its way through northern texas.

talking about anywhere from 3 to 5 inches of rain, so we've got flood warnings, flash flood warnings, and flood watches in effect for much of southern texas with those heavy rainfall amounts. up to 5 inches in some areas. in the northeast, we've got more wet weather making its way up into the northeast and new england. look for airport delays, and anywhere from 1 to 3 inches of >> a few showers around this morning. mostly cloudy into the afternoon. and that's your latest weather. savannah?

>> thanks. president obama is campaigning close to home in washington, d.c. today as romney courts donors and voters in pennsylvania, both men gearing up for next week's crucial first debate. we have our esteemed panel of nbc news political experts here raring to go, but first let's get to nbc's peter alexander in philadelphia. peter, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. all week long president obama and mitt romney have largely been chasing one another's shadow, first in new york and then ohio and finally in virginia. this weekend they will head their own direction as they prepare for that first critical head-to-head showdown, the first in the country presidential debate in the country next wednesday. virginia, the old dominion. >> we've got to win in virginia. >> reporter: could be the new must-win state this november. >> we'll win virginia again. >> reporter: with duelling events thursday, the president and mitt romney competed for votes in the battleground with deep military ties, appealing to voters who have been to battle before, veterans. >> because nobody will fight for

this country should have to fight for a job or roof over their heads when they come home. >> reporter: romney pointed to another round of weak economic numbers and warned his american legion audience of devastating job losses if leemg defense spending cuts go through. >> the impact will be immediate and significant right here in virginia. 136,000 jobs will be lost in virginia as a result of this move. >> reporter: with less than 40 days to go, both men are speaking directly to voters. the president's team releasing this new ad that feels like a campaign closing argument. >> with you if i can sit down with you, in your living room or around the kitchen table, here's what i'd say. >> reporter: voters are now weighing in with more than half the country, 30 states in all, already having started to cast their ballot. and you really can't overestimate the importance of early voting this go-round. in 2008 it was nearly a third of all voters, savannah, that cast their ballots before election day. this year that number is expected to rise to as much as

40%, and today when michelle obama goes out to the university of northern iowa, she will be giving a speech, but it's not just a speech, she is also be asking the supporters there to cast their votes nearly on the spot. there's a polling place just a few steps away. >> all right. peter alexander, thank you. for more on this week's events on the campaign trail, we eco-eel look ahead to next week's first debate. tom brokaw is here, david gregory, mott railer of "meet the dress" and chuck todd, the nbc chief white house correspondent. too many titles, we're out of time. the president's closing argument. a two-minute ad he put out in a sign of the campaign, a sign of confidence, chuck, we'll start with you? >> we looked and did some of our own polling, did it the last couple of weeks and among people who say they will vote before election day, the president wins 2-1. that's why they are doing it.

all about early voting. half of the battleground states, 50% or more of the voters will vote early, florida, colorado, nevada, north carolina. >> david, is there a risk at all if the obama campaign gets ahead of itself here. we know some of the polls have showed widening margins and a little bit in florida, too, but it's tight in many swing states, five and a half weeks until election day and a debate coming up. >> they fully recognize all the pitfalls of getting cocky and thinking the race is over. president has detail and mitt romney doesn't, wants to make this a choice, not a referendum on his time in office and he understands incumbents are most likely to stumble going into the debates so this is a relentless campaign on the president's side and they recognize all the pitfalls. >> let's talk about romney's soft sell. the president south with an ad. romney has an ad out where he looks straight at the cameras, kind of that gauzy, i'm talking to you, i care about everybody. tom, how much damage does he

have to repair from the 47% remark? >> what's striking to me the number of conservative commentators lining up against him. charles krauthammer in the "washington post" is talking about he needs to goback big. he needs to be more defined in his policies, especially about the middle east. romney turned out to give the president air cover. there are serious questions about what happened in libya in the absence of security, and what is our middle east policy, but romney's missteps really have given the president more camouflage than he would have expected. we'll learn a lot more next week when we have the rumble in the rocky mountains. >> that column, a conservative column asking for more details has been written every week by somebody about mitt romney for the last six months. there's your problem. >> and it says there's a leadership vacuum. the republicans i talked to say this is no longer about keeping score on policy. this is not about ideology. this is about can you see this person being president for another four years or for the first time? that's what they are faced with. >> on this question of empathy though, isn't it too late for

mitt romney to change the way people view him? he began his campaign on june 2nd, 2011. the country knows who he is for the most part, sending ann romney talking about his health care plan in massachusetts and how that covered more people that not, can he change the way people look at him? >> i don't know. i think it really depends on the debate and what happens in the debate will depend on how president obama performs against him and how he comes after him. i think the president's very lucky to have the unemployment numbers come out next week, after that first debate, rather than this week, before the debate, because that would give him an opening. we've seen these debates take unusual turns in the past. president ford liberated poland when he was debating, you'll remember, and jimmy carter, he talked about nuclear policy with amy and ronald reagan looked and said there you go again, and it changed it for ronald reagan. >> let's talk about that fight night. a lot of commentators think of because where romney is it's a make-or-break moment for him. i love to hear all the

commentators fall over themselves to compliment each other for once on the campaign trail. you had mitt romney saying the president obviously is a very eloquent gifted speaker. david axelrod said i think the invasion of normandy took less preparation than romney is putting into these debates. who is the better debater? >> i think they are both mediocre debaters. president obama didn't win any of those debates, joe biden won them. the harvard and yale debates, will be paul ryan and joe biden. they will be better at it. romney is good in a group setting, not done a lot of one-on-one. john mccain wasn't the best debater either. he doesn't blow anybody away. >> i spoke with nate silver from the "new york times" who has looked at all the polls and how much ground mitt romney has to gain, as much as seven points, a lot to gain in some of the key battleground states through a debate performance when two guys can be very well prepared, one sitting president. >> kerry did it though against bush. >> i don't know that he made up all that ground.

>> it's not the debate, what is it for mitt romney the last five and a half weeks of this campaign to change it? >> i think he does have to go big. he has to have a couple of really big ideas that connect with the american people and where they are. the economy is slowly getting better. there are real doubts about medicare plan that paul ryan has put in place that is beginning to hurt them in the battleground states. i don't think there's one thing that can turn it around for him except the ufo theory which i keep coming back, to and we just had it again in the last two weeks. the terrorist attack on our libyan embassy. things like that can change these elections very quickly. you'll remember when john kerry was running against george bush on the friday before the election, osama bin laden came out with a screech against america and you never know about our national security. >> thanks, guys. to michigan and the enduring

mystery of jimmy hoffa's disappearance. all eyes on a driveway in suburban detroit where authorities will dig in search of human remains. nbc's john yang is there for us. john, good morning. >> reporter: the path for the search for jimmy hoffa has been a long and twisted one, and today it does come here to this driveway in suburban detroit. they are going to take soil samples today to see if the answer to the mystery lies here. more than 37 years after jimmy hoffa vanished without a trace the trail has led to this suburban home. an informant claims he saw a body buried her around the time hoffa went missing. he told dan muldea, the author of "the off anwar sadats." >> very convinced hoffa is buried at this particular location. >> we believe the witness saw something and it was credible enough that we have to continue

the investigation at this point. >> reporter: using ground-penetrating radar, authorities found signs of something about two feet under the driveway. today they will take a soil sample to look for evidence of human remains. hoffa was last seen outside a detroit-area restaurant in 1975, apparently lured by two mob figures. since then the search has taken investigators to northern michigan, to giants stadium in new jersey, and to a farm outside detroit where in 2006 the fbi razed a 3,000-foot barn and dug under it. once the leader of the teamst s teamsters, the nation's largest union, hoffa's connection to organized crime kept him in hot water. >> i believe he was in a power struggle and was killed by an organized crime figure. >> reporter: that possibility could also explain the long silence. >> i mean, he's terrified right now. i can hear his voice trembling yesterday when i was talking to him. >> reporter: could this be where the 37-year search for hoffa

finally ends? >> we have never advocate that had this is jimmy hoffa's resting place. we're strictly investigating this as a cold case homicide, and that has been our focus since the beginning. if it somehow happens to be mr. hoffa, well, great, it will end a major mystery. >> reporter: police say it will take about two hours to take a core soil sample that will be sent to a forensic anthropologist at michigan state university, and if they find signs of human remains, then they are going to dig this driveway up. >> 37 years on still looking for jimmy hoffa. once again to savannah. >> harmony and peace have been restored to the nfl followed by a week of drama over the replacement officials. the regular referees were back on the field last night to the delight of players and fans. stephanie gosk is at m & t stadium in baltimore this morning. stephanie, good morning.

>> reporter: good morning, savannah. standee ovations at this stadium are reserved for the home team, the baltimore ravens, the fans crazy about their team, but last night other pros took to the field that they were even happier to see. >> tipping their kips to the appreciative fans here at m & t bank stadium. >> reporter: nfl refs are used to boos and abuse. they aren't used to standing ovations, but thursday night in baltimore that's exactly what they got. >> we are excited to have the real refs back. >> tucker the kick. >> reporter: the first nfl game of the season to be refereed by full-time experienced officials. >> i think the players know. i think the coaches know, and we can all get back to concentrating on football. >> reporter: this season began with the lockout imposed by the league and a team of less experienced replacement refs. >> i mean, i'm sure the replacement refs are really nice people, and they tried their best, but they were in way over their head. >> oh, baby, just good, and the patriots are saying no!

>> reporter: first three weeks of games were marred by controversial calls and chaos. coaches grabbing refs. >> oh, boy. well, that's a few bucks. >> who did they give it to? touchdown! >> reporter: culminating in monday night's final play that was labeled a disgrace. >> i don't like the way this game finished. i have a bad taste in my mouth. >> reporter: a tentative deal was struck late wednesday night and even the officials aren't voting on it until saturday the lockout was lifted for the ravens/browns game. fans were relieved. >> thank god it's over! >> reporter: players and coaches are over. >> we'll still complain and there will be calls we'll be griping about, but we know these are the best in the world. >> reporter: league's commissioner is apologetic. >> we're sorry to have to bring our fans through that and bring the general public to that. >> reporter: coaches and plans and fans want everything to go back to normal. >> dancing in the hole. flags fly. >> reporter: three minutes into thursday night's game there was a sign normalcy might not be far off. >> holding offense, number 74,

penalty is declined. >> reporter: the call went against the ravens. >> you hear the noise? >> just a little bit. >> reporter: crowd booed the only briefly heroic refs, and balance was once again restored. this isn't the end of controversial calls. those calls are just part of football, but it means now faith has been restored that those most qualified to make them are finally back on the field. savannah? >> all right. stephanie gosk in baltimore, thank you. just ahead, coaches of a youth football team accused of offering incentives to kids, including cash, for hard hits on the field. we'll hear from both sides, but first, this is "today" on nbc.

just ahead, the major overnight development in david goggins' attempt to break the guinness world record in our studio. >> and the teen who asked for and got his first kiss from carrie underwood, lip to lip.

our food to shelters in need.g now you can help too. when you buy a bag of pedigree, you'll help more shelter dogs go home. join us. feed your dog pedigree. >> this is wbal-tv 11 is in baltimore. >> good morning. i am stan stovall. ravens came out of their primetime game against the cleveland browns with a win. the ravens finally got some breathing room at the end of the third quarter. this gave the ravens a three- point lead.

down to the final two seconds of the game, the browns had a chance to pull it out, but a penalty call cannot pull it off the time. they got eight redo, still couldn't score. the ravens bring their record to 3-1. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> we have accidents impacting some of our major roadways this morning. one of the -- one on the inner loop the beltway. that ramp is closed as result. this is the other accident that is creating delays. look at the live cameras. 952 caton avenue in the right lane. -- a multi-vehicle crash in the right lane. this is just a mess in this area. state to the left to get by.

>> rain hit at the crucial time for this hour. there is another batch of this from kentucky into west region and. this may come back into play today into tonight. for today, mostly cloudy. as in the upper seventies to low 80s. there is a chance for thunderstorms this afternoon. this will all go to our south. 72 tomorrow.

>> what should we do that? >> lip to lip. >> that is 12-year-old chase receiving his very first kiss, and it was a good one, too. a lip-to-lip smooch from country superstar carrie underwood. coming up, chase is going to tell us about how that unforgettable moment came about. >> and how he's branding it. liptolip. can't wait to hear your story. meantime, 7:30 on a friday morning. it's the 28th of september, 2012. we say hello to our crowd in rockefeller plaza, and willie and i have moved upstairs to the scene of david goggins' guinness world record attempt.

>> the goal was the most pullups in a 24-hour period. the old mark 4,020. david was well on his way on thursday, as you see here, after just six and a half hours, will have reach the halfway point. tired just watching that. >> david, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> tell us what happened. >> well, about five and a half hours i felt something in my wrist snap. basically these pullup bars move and i'm used to working on stationary ones and these sway side to side. my forearm over a period of time so i was losing a lot of energy. >> these are portable bars. you brought them, but this is not the one you normally used or practiced on. >> as you see here. we had the hopes rear, and about hour eight, just going everywhere and like every hour it got worse and worse. >> how long were you in pain? >> pretty much -- i had 2011

mullups done in six hours and only got 2,500 so it was like six, seven hours. >> and you wanted to keep going. >> right. >> kind of had to drag you out of here. what did it take to get you over to the x-ray? >> got to the point where i couldn't grab the bar anymore and hung on to it. a torn muscle in my forearm. >> all is not lost. doing this for a great cause. raised a bunch of money, raised $10,000. >> right. >> tell us about the cause. >> special warrior foundation operation. and that was my mission, my mission is accomplished. it wasn't about breaking the record. it's about having america know more about this great cause, sending kids to college and raising awareness so, you know, i'm still here. i'll get back up and do it again. injuries happen, but i feel good. >> we have a special gift basket for you. >> yeah. >> i see aleve, advil. >> a little bengay. >> a couple of five guys burgers would be pretty good. >> thanks for having me. >> a lot of women doing window

shopping yesterday as you do your shirtless pullups. >> exactly. >> congratulations on a good cause. >> thank you again. don't forget specialops.org. >> you got it. >> thank you very much. we want to turn from that heroic event to a troubling story involving young athletes with football players 10 and 11 years old given rewards for big hits on opposing players. nbc's miguel alma engineer is in los angeles with this story. miguel, good morning to you. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. back in march the nfl said new orleans saints coaches were playing their players for hits and it's happened again but not with the pros, with kids. >> reporter: one of the nation's premiere pop warner football teams is accused of paying are for big hits. >> if we hit someone like really hard, the best hit in the game, we would get paid, paid some

money. >> reporter: two former players whose identities we've concealed say last year their team played under an incentive system. 10 and 11-year-olds given cash, between $20 and $50, to knock opposing players out of the game. punishing blows that are often part of the sport. >> we were targeting the best players mostly. anybody could get hit, but like the focus was on their best players? and you were trying to take them out of the game? >> yes. >> reporter: the allegations were first reported by the "o.c. register," john zanelli, a former coach and parent who blew the whistle when the season was over. >> initially it started off that it was cash for the biggest hit, and then over time they started introducing other concepts, like, you know, bonuses for targeted players, extra money if you knock the kid out of the game, even if you hurt a kid. you can get extra money. >> reporter: zanelli is not

without his own problems from the league, band from pop warner for life. that decision was because of his misconduct, but zanelli and several other parents stand behind the allegations that an incentives system was in place, and zanelli says cash was paid for hits like this one. >> big hit. >> reporter: a helmet-to-helmet collision that left one 11-year-old sidelined with a concussion. reggie scales now fears his son may have been the target of a bounty. >> clearly it's head-to-head contact. you know, i was very angry. it was concerning. i felt that there needs to be some account ability if these allegations are true. >> reporter: the men accused of offering cash for hits deny any such program ever existed. assistant coach richard bowman says the claims are nothing but parents seeking revenge over a long-standing dispute. have you ever paid your players for making great plays? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: have you ever paid them for making big hits?

>> absolutely not, no way. >> reporter: have you ever coached them or toll them to go after specific players and try to knock them out of the game? >> no. we would never intentionally hurt a football player on the opposing team. >> reporter: bowman and head coach darren crawford were both initially cleared of any wrongdoing after the tuftan pop warner league said it conducted a thorough investigation, but both coaches have been cited for other infractions. >> mr. crawford denies take iin place in this bounty program as described by the accuser. by the same token, mr. crawford has stated that there may have been some errors in judgment, unrelated to a bounty program. >> reporter: today the pop warner national office says it will reopen the case and reinterview the players and parents who stepped forward. it's asked the coaches and local league president to step aside pending the outcome of that investigation. >> we have no tolerance for anything like this. we want to make sure that the

right thing is done to protect those players. >> reporter: last year the red cobras came just short of a national championship. a team today with players and parents now standing on opposite sides of the field. high stakes and serious allegations in a game played by kids for fun. >> touchdown! >> reporter: something to keep in mind here, the folks involved are all volunteers, and all of the parents no, matter what side of this issue they stand on, agree on one thing, things got way out of hand. savannah. >> all right, miguel almaguer in los angeles. >> now let's go to al. >> temperatures, northern states seeing warmer than normal. boise 12 degrees, rapid city at nine degrees and minneapolis will see a high of 78 degrees

and heat where you've expected down through the southwest and 90s in the southwest and a little chillier than normal in the northeast and new england with temperatures there in the 60s. look for rain stretching from new england all the way back, heavy rain in texas. some morning showers. afternoon showers in the pacific northwest later today. that's what's going on aroat >> a few showers this morning. we expect mostly cloudy into the afternoon. that's your latest weather, but, of course, we're all waiting for just two more days, and then it's all worthwhile because it's sunday night

"football night in america." that's right. the new york giants taking on the philadelphia eagles. lincoln financial field. cloudy, mild, 30% chance of showers. temperatures in the low to mid-60s. will the eagles clean their claws on the giants helmets? we'll find out on sunday night, "football night in america." . willie. >> wow, al roker with us from his weather library in los angeles. al. >> our weather desk. >> all right, al. thanks very much. turning serious to a real life drama involving a hollywood stunt man and the hired hit man who showed up at his door. nbc's josh mankiewicz is in kansas city. josh, good morning. >> reporter: this is one of those truth is stranger than fiction stories which is really not surprising given that it has a hollywood backdrop and that one of the players is a very well-known name.

garrett warren was at the top of his game, a hollywood stunt man who had mastered the art of make believe violence. but one night he answered the door of his home and faced the real thing. >> when a bullet hits you, you don't really know that it hits you. not like you see in the movies. >> reporter: but he was hit, four times, at close range. >> i fell back behind my door to the ground, and then he walked in and put the gun in my head and when i saw him squeeze the trigger i flinched just like this, like a fighter would. the bullet went straight through my head and came out my head. >> pretty good reflexes. >> like "the matrix," keanu going back and hitting him. so as much as i moved, i still got hit. >> reporter: somehow garrent warren survived. now the question was who shot him and why? >> it was apparent that this was a hi.

dealing with a hit man scenario. >> reporter: and police eventually did find what they found a hit note targeting garrett, evidence that ultimately led to a glammious fem me fatale. garrett's ex-wife claudio harrow an actress and model who appeared in the gangster movie "the casino can the "and once was married to one of the more famous gangster movie actors ever, actor joe persony. >> do you know who shot garrett warren? >> i don't know. >> do you know why he was shot? >> no, i don't know. >> reporter: but at the time of the shooting claudia and garrett were in the midst of a bitter divorce. had the one-time wife of a movie hit man hired a hit man in real life? >> this is one of those stranger nan nix kind of things. certainly nobody would write a script like this because they would have a look that any self-respecting director or producer would look, the look you're having in a hollywood movie and say come on, that's

ridiculous. >> reporter: building a case against claudia harrow took years, strange twists and lucky breaks. but in the end she pleaded no contest to charges she tried to have her ex-husband, the stunt man, killed. >> i was raised that we're all going to get tested once, at least once. and how are we going to handle that test? >> this was my test. >> reporter: a lot more twists and turns to this story. the tale of how claudia harrow is accused of manipulated to having other people take part in this hit is something that you will not believe. that's tonight on "dateline." >> and we will be watching. josh mankiewicz. see more of josh's story tonight on "dateline," 10:00, 9:00 central, right here on nbc. and up next, safe narks you know what we're doing? remember the proposal of the couple in the plane on the beginning of the show. we've got them on the phone and ask this guy what he was

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relate to wanting to do an unusual proposal for your beloved there, but did it occur to you that she might freak out? >> the thought had occurred to me, and i definitely was advised not to do it by a handful of her friend and family, but i had faith in my girl, and she's -- she's got her stuff together, and i knew she would stay calm and do a good job with the check list and everything. >> what are you thinking? you're up there. i know what you're thinking, we're about to go down there and the roller coaster of emotions from this is bad to i'm getting married. >> oh, goodness. if i could -- i had to tell you. when the plane headed for the water, i genuinely did believe it was a true emergency, and i thought in reading through that emergency procedure checklist that our lives were in my hands at that moment, and -- >> wow. >> -- and going from that to the

plane leveling out and getting to the end of the emergency procedure checklist and the proposal, there was a swing of emotions like i've never experienced before, but i've never been that happy. >> were you just like -- weren't you a teeny tiny bit mad at him for putting you through that? >> everyone has asked me that question, and to be honest i was never mad. i was never mad. i think it's because i'm so excited because of what was happening, and after the plane, my family was there, and then after i had time to sit and think about being mad, i wasn't. i was truly excited. >> i'll speak on behalf of carly's mom here, is this how the marriage is going to be? is this how it's going to be? >> i sure hope not. i don't think her mom would let me get away with that much longer. i wanted to plan a surprise wedding, so busy as a surgery resident that she doesn't have

any time to do the planning, and i talked to her mom about a surprise wedding, and she put the stop on that one pretty quick. >> let's not do any more surprises, ryan. >> i think i'm surprised out. >> carly, surgery resident. i think you've got the tools to get back at him. >> you know what, that's why i was able to keep my cool when i thought we were dying, but i will plan something. >> revenge, the foundation of any good relationship. ryan thompson and carly kennedy, a big congratulations to you. >> thank you, guys. >> many happy years ahead. still ahead, what awaits us. this time the game show music can mean only one thing. more of your "ask away today" questions. the last day, willie. we'll see what people want to know, but first these messages. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

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i learned lyrica can provide significant relief from fibromyalgia pain. and for some people, it can work in as early as the first week of treatment. so now i can plan my days and accomplish more. lyrica is not for everyone. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior, or any swelling or affected breathing or skin, or changes in eyesight, including blurry vision or muscle pain with fever or tired feeling. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don't drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don't drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. with less pain, i'm feeling better now that i've found lyrica. ask your doctor if lyrica is right for your fibromyalgia pain. just ahead, chelsea handler joins us live in our studio. >> and the boy who shared his first kiss with carrie underwood. we'll meet him.

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>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am saramindy basara. here is sarah caldwell. >> mcdonough road and timothy lindh, medevac is being dispatched. harbor tunnel tolls, we have an accident coming in. this accident is being cleared with multiple vehicles involved. loch raven looking at a near accident. this one is still clearing. 24 miles per hour there.

295, watch for an accident. a lot going on out there, much of it due to the rain. take your time as you travel. 95 past caton avenue, watch for a right lane closure. consider 895. live view of the beltway at the harrisburg expressway, part of the rap is still blocked. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. ava joins us with the forecast. >> rain was the big culprit for a lot of those accidents. notice how the rainshowers are just lingering in queen anne's county. everything else heading towards delaware. still the cold front hanging around the area. another area of low pressure is right to slide along it. as for today, we get a break

from the rain. highs in the upper 70's. a few showers may pop up this evening. last of the weekend looks be krystal conwell : we see a lot of problems with the... number of students that we have. resources. materials. things that the children need...

on a day-to-day basis. anncr: question seven will help. the department of legislative services says question seven... will mean one hundred ninety nine million a year... for schools...gaming revenue that would have... gone to other states. and independent audits will guarantee the money... goes where it's supposed to. krystal conwell: i think people should vote for question... seven because i think it will be a great benefit to children.

8:00 now on this friday morning. it's the 28th of september, 2012. the weekend just a few short hours away now. we've got a nice crowd getting a jump on the weekend. getting a little bit this morning. starting to drizzle a little bit. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside willie geist. matt is on assignment. just ahead, the first kiss seen round the world. have you heard about this? 12-year-old chase is the envy of a lot of guys this morning. he's smart, the big sign and his considerable charm to get a first smooch at a carrie underwood concert on stage from the country superstar herself. he's here and will tell us about

it. what i like about chase is, oh -- >> lucky little dog. i was going to say. he doesn't settle for the air kiss. lip-to-lip natalie. >> peck on the cheek doesn't work. >> i know. we'll catch up with chase in a little bit. and we'll talk to chelsea handler. i'm not sure what we've heard about the book if we want to hear her first kiss story. about to do new things to her show, going to move to a stage with a star-studded week of jennifer anniston and miley cyrus, and we'll catch up with chelsea in a few minutes. >> excited to see her. and how often have you gotten frustrated by something very small in life, little things in life and you thought there should be a better way to do this. >> constantly. >> a constant, constant problem. we'll get to do something fun next week. "simple savvy silly tips for a smarter way to do thing."

from how to eat a taco the right way, to the proper way to put your boots on in the morning. you are going to be good to go. this is on the heels of the "ask away today" game machine. >> may need a new way to pronounce the title. >> anyway. >> let's send it inside to natalie for the day's top stories if she's drawn herself away from chase. >> barely could do it. thank you, savannah and willie. good morning, everyone. detectives this morning with piecing together what led to the deadly workplace shooting in minneapolis thursday afternoon. officials say a gunman killed four people inside a sign-making business before then taking his own life. that business is in a residential neighborhood. four other victims were wounded. three of them critically. witnesses said the gunman was a former employee. no charges have been filed in the case of a connecticut man who shot and killed a masked teenager who turned out to be his own 15-year-old son. police say the father jeffrey juliano got a call from his

sister who lives next door. she thought someone was trying to break into her house. juliano came out with a gun and fired when the teen came at him with a weapon. the presidential candidates are making final preparations for their first of three debates on wednesday. on thursday both candidates were in virginia appealing to veterans in a state with strong military ties. the president is attending several fund-raisers today in washington, d.c. mitt romney, meanwhile, is campaigning today in the philadelphia area and in boston. soil samples are being taken today as part of a new search for teamsters union boss jimmy hoffa who disappeared in 1975. investigators will dig beneath a driveway in suburban detroit. that's where a tipster claims he saw a body that might have been off arksz being buried 37 years ago. now for a look at what is trending today. our quick roundup of what has you talking online. oscar-winning actress reese witherspoon is trending after giving birth to a baby boy.

tennessee james toth was born wednesday, her first child with hubby jim toth. has two children from a previous marriage to act or ryan felipe. facebook let's people buy and send virtual, but not gifts. they have been under pressure to raise money since its public stock debuted in may. and the nfl refs were a target for "snl"'s spoof. >> will the defendant please rise. >> i just want to reiterate what i've said every day of this trial. i've killed those people and i'd do it again. >> mr. foreman. >> not guilty. >> hint of a tickle at the back of my throat. >> well, he's dead, let's call it. >> time of death, 2:15.

>> no, no, no, i'm not death. also it's 4:30. [ whistle blows ] >> replacement refs practicing medicine, now that's a scary thought. it is 8:05 right now. let's go back to al in los angeles in his weather nook for a check of the weather. >> replacement refs could probably could weather. i think they could do that most likely. let's see what we've got for you. pick city today just happens to be los angeles. morning fog and partly cloudy, warm. temperature of 82 degrees. no fall here, and as we look around the country, the fall foliage really, past peak actually. as you get up into northern new england, rockies seeing peak colors also in the upper mississippi river valley and seeing your colors change. for leaf-look weather, as we look for today. wet weather into coastal new england, back through the appalachians and on into texas where we'll see heavy rain. evening showers in the pacific northwest. gorgeous day through the southwest. >> a few showers around this

morning. mostly cloudy into the afternoon. and that's your latest weather. willie. >> all right, al. thanks very much. coming up next, the 12-year-old who asked for and got his first kiss from country superstar carrie underwood. you'll meet him when he come back. [ male announcer ] if you stash tissues

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back now at 8:10. do you remember your first case? well, chase kurnick will probably never forget his after locking lips with his favorite singer carrie underwood. he's here to tell us all about it, but first chase's big moment. it's a milestone in every boy's life, his first kiss, and for 12-year-old chase kurnick it happened in a big way. >> how are we going to do this?

>> lip to lip. >> wow. >> at a carrie underwood concert in louisville, kentucky on saturday, chase held up a sign that read carrie, be my first kiss. carrie saw it and brought chase up on stage a few weeks in. >> how old are you? >> 12. >> 12 years old. >> as the crowd cheered carrie gave chase some pointers. >> close your eyes. >> and planted a kiss on chase's lips. after the concert carrie said thanks, chase, for the kiss and thanks louisville for rocking so hard tonight. we had fun and with th the #liptolip making chase's first kiss one that he and many others will never forget. >> well, chase is here to kiss and tell. he's brought along the sign that started it all.

chase, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> could you believe it when that actually happened? >> not at all. i was just shocked. >> so the plan was you're going to make the sign, hold it up. >> yeah, basically, trying to get up there. >> where did you get the swagger, chase, to get up on stage and she asked you what kind of kiss do you and instead of a peck on the check you say i want lip to lip. >> well, i wasn't just going to go up there and just get a little kiss on the cheek. if i'm going to get it, i'm going to get it right. >> were you surprised when she actually plucked you out of the crowd? mean, a lot of people hold up signs at concerts and are expecting to kiss the star on stage. >> no, i don't know. i was like -- one way i was like, yeah, i'm going to do and then one way, i was like, no, she's not going to pull me up. there's a million of people that want to do this, and it was just crazy. >> your parents who are right over here, they were in the audience, but they were sitting somewhere else, right? >> correct.

>> and you guys supported this, right? >> absolutely. >> sure. >> john, you helped him make the sign? >> he told me what to do and i outlined the letters, yeah. >> so walk us through what it was like for you, because you were in the arena, gave the good seats to your kids, being the good parents you are and you sat up higher and when you saw your son pulled up on stage my first thought was, of course. chase was determined but shocked when it happened. >> when she said there was a sign. i said it's chase, i know it's chase. >> so chase, the kiss happened, video is taken. she tweets you, and then you go back to school. i mean, like you're walking down the hall, how much swagger do you have? are people high fiving you? >> yeah, it was crazy, like it took me five minutes to get to one class down the hallway. >> were you signing autographs? >> no, they were fist bumping me

and high fiving me. i'm so gelous. all my brother's friends were all jealous. they were like i wished that was me. >> now i understand you have brushed your teeth since then but have not actually washed the lips. >> correct. >> is this true? >> correct. >> it's true. >> so they are still unclear. carrie is still there. >> yes, sir. >> okay. but is there any other celebrity. let's just say you have this opportunity again, anybody else on your wish list? >> selena gomez. >> you've got to go through bieber for that though, my man. >> all right. lip to lip, chase, we're proud of you. >> i actually have something for you all. >> a kiss? >> not that. >> that's for you. >> and that's for you. >> thank you. >> from kentucky. >> we love this. >> and i made this for carrie underwood. it's duct tape with kisses on it. i would like to give that to her, and then i made you this. >> this guy's amazing. >> such a charmer. >> all right, chase. >> and with his own hashtag.

show the shirt, lip to lip. >> oh, i love it. >> chase kurnick, thanks so much, chase. >> thanks for all the presents. >> you're welcome. coming up next, chelsea handler is in the town. >> we're going to talk to her, and maybe she will help us out with a little "ask away today." that's right after this. [ female announcer ] born from the naturally sweet monk fruit, something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit. the rich, sweet taste of sugar. nothing artificial. ♪ it's all that sweet ever needs to be. new nectresse. sweetness naturally. just four ingredients is all we use from the seed, to the spoon. every flake, genuine, true.

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as an author she lands on the "new york times" best-seller loss with titles like "are you intere there, god, it's me chelsea." and now she's taken the stage one at vh-1. >> i'm offering myself up to tom cruise. i'm offering myself to you. >> yeah. >> that's amazing. >> you can't offer yourself up though. there's a whole competition you've got to do apparently. >> it would be good for them to be associated with me. then people wouldn't think they were so ridiculous. >> yeah, exactly. >> chelsea handler, good morning to you. >> good morning. >> these are early hours for you. we have some beverages because we thought this might be a little bit tough. >> what kind of beverages? >> we didn't know what you'd want? >> oh, you guys are -- >> a couple shots of vodka. >> this is perfect. this is perfect for me to study for my next book. >> thank you. always so accommodating. >> i think we've got the makings of a screwdriver here actually. >> i'll keep that on the dl.

>> stay sober. moving on up to this big stewed yes. >> this beautiful new studio that comcast put together for me, and they spent a fortune for me to be able to have my own shower and my own office instead of showering by the shower that we had at our old space which was downstairs, and would i walk out of my bathrobe in front of the studio audience, not joking, hair and a towel and my bathrobe so that will be a big improvement for me. >> are you planning to change, diva up? >> i'm pretty much a big bitch already. it's sort of like the big time and now everybody is talking about it, like i guess i have done something. i'm excited and really grateful. we're doing new music and changing the look of the show, a huge stage so people can come and do live performances. >> i was going to ask you.

you are the only woman in a sea of men in late night. why do you think that is? >> because i'm very masculine maybe. >> you've been working on your masculine qualities. >> i don't have to work on that. they come naturally to me. >> known for being kind of unfiltered. that's a diplomatic word. >> yeah, it is, thank you for using it actually. >> are guests ever afraid of you in. >> yes, people are very scared of me. i hear that all the time. people are another vows to come on. get calls from managers and publishers, this guest is so they are vows. i always take care of my guests. the roundtable is a very different segment. i know you go to bed at like 5:00 p.m. probably haven't seen my show recently. >> i dvr it. >> it's a very different segment than the interview and it's a safe place to come and people come off looking like they can take a joke and have a good sense of humor about themselves. >> are you afraid of any of your guests? >> i'm not afraid of that much, no, savannah.

>> you had psy on the other day, good rhythm. >> no, not good rhythm. >> i am rhythmless. >> he came and made the office more exciting, doing "gangnam style" with the makeup. >> making the rounds, like a media whore. >> we talked about "fifty shades of grey," one of your favorite books. >> yeah, quite. i decided that that book was so ridiculous that i had to write a spinoff or takeoff on it for my new book which is called "50 shades of chartreuse, this time it's personal." >> real quick. i heard even though you've talked a lot about hollywood or celebrities, you want to do some politics and talk about things that are going on in the world. >> well, i just want to be, you know, i'm 37 years old so there's only so much you can talk about, so we try to always evolve the show a little bit more and talk about things that are exciting. really great guests coming on for the first two weeks of the show, huge celebrities, sneak-on appearances and funny taped segments that we've done and my close friends are coming on, jen

aniston is coming on, miley cyrus the first week, so it's really -- i'm really, really happy and excited. >> we're excited to see it, and i'll have to tape it because i can't stay up late. anybody else with normal lives catch "chelsea lately" weeknights at 11:00, 10:00 central on our sister network e. is it true that you'll help us with our goofy segment "ask away today." >> yes, this is pretty gay pore me. >> for us, too. >> just grab questions. here's the safety goggles. they are really attractive. >> and what do i do. >> i'm just going to grab one. >> got it. >> okay. >> sorry. they are coming out. i didn't do this well. >> oh, no, that's good. >> grab a couple. i'm like coming over with these. >> come on over, chelsea. >> you can moderate. >> you have to be a part of it, too. >> we haven't seen it. >> give these questions.

>> yes, please, thank you. >> stay here. >> here we go. >> this is so exciting. >> okay. what's in savannah's refrigerator? from donna in indianapolis. >> oh, at home, nothing. really. honestly nothing. some week-old papaya salad. >> throw this out. >> that's bad. >> you sound single. >> all right. next question. this is -- wait, okay, hey "today" gang. what is each of your favorite seasons and why? from amy. >> right now fall. i love this time of year. >> i love fall, too. >> summer. >> summer. >> summer. >> you're part of the "today" gang today. >> i would say spring. i lost flowers. >> summer, spring. >> what about you? >> summer, of course. >> you look like a summer. you look like your complexion is summer. >> that's the makeup.

>> any others? >> yeah. my question is do you have senior citizen interns? i wonder if this is some senior citizen. >> that's a great idea, from jeanie haggerty. >> we do have a lot of interns, do tend to be in college. i don't think there's any age limit so you're welcome to apply. >> come on in, girl. >> have any of you tried yoga? >> yes, i do a lot of yoga. i did yoga throughout my pregnancies. you do yoga, right? >> i don't do yoga. >> oh, god, no. i can't even touch my toes. no yoga in my future. >> i've done that hot yoga. that's tough. >> are we supposed to keep going. >> i don't have all day. what is your favorite pie? >> i'm going for coconut cream. >> blueberry, obviously, right? >> right. >> there you go, girl. >> strawberry rhubarb pie. >> okay. what about you? >> i don't really like desserts. >> you don't? >> i don't want people to hate

me for saying that. >> now we're -- >> i'm more of a salty girl. >> a blanket no dessert policy. >> yeah. >> what about vodka pie? >> yeah, now we're talking. >> chelsea handler, thanks so - >> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. here is sarah caldwell and traffic pulse 11. >> if you are traveling on mcdonough road and timothy lane, this crash still clearing. medevac situation to avoid. southbound 95 just past caton avenue, we have some activity left over from an earlier accident. right lane is closed there. 15 miles per hour approaching that scene. 395, accident in the southbound side. 40 miles per hour on the

northeast inner loop. starting to improve the there. earlier accident in that area. no. 0 in glen burnie, scene of the crash. update at the scene past caton avenue, right lane still closed and very heavy leading up to it. 95 and 395, just a mess of the ramp at 395 outbound towards 95. it is calling is to approach the ramp to 95. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. john collins joins us with a look at the forecast. >> clouds and fog this morning. towards the west, the sun is breaking through a little bit. a little bit of isolated shower activity. everything else looks quiet. temperature-wise, 67 degrees at the airport. high humidity rating. when calm. -- winds are calm. mixture of clouds and sunshine.

the front will still be in the area. maybe a shower late. saturday looks like a generally dry day. rain chance go up a bit on sunday. >> thank you for joining us. another update

8:30 new on a friday morning. it's the 28th day of september, 2012, and we kind of have a stormy end to the week here in the northeast. we're hoping that the weather will be nicer over the weekend and nice where you are, too. good morning, everyone. i'm savannah guthrie alongside natalie morales and willie geist who is in for matt on assignment. and up next, helping to plan your next getaway. >> fall full of family-friendly

festivals and we'll check out what we think are the five of the nation's best. >> and from pencil skirts to dress trousers, how do you decide what hemline is fashionable, what looks good on you? we're going to clear up any hemline confusion. >> okay. and a little bit later on, do low mortgage rates have you thinking about jumping back into the real estate market? we're going to show you some great homes for sale across the country at affordable prices. okay. we'll get a check of the wetter from al out in los angeles this morning in the weather library. al, good morning to you. >> yes, that's right. and, of course, we have all the latest books. "fifty shades of chartreuse." everything is here. weekend looking pretty good, morning showers in new england and the heavy rain continues texas into the western gulf. mild and partly cloudy in the pacific northwest. heat continues in the southwest. nice and sunny in the northern plains. for sunday, sunday, we expect to see more wet weather through new england. heavy rain moves into the

southeastern atlantic coast and the gulf coast as well. heat conditions throughout much of the southwest. nice and warm. mid-mississippi, upper mississippi river valley into the northern plains. that's wha >> a few showers this morning. we expect mostly cloudy into the afternoon. >> and that's your latest weather. >> like sands through the hourglass, those are the days of our lives by al roker. >> thank you, al. >> coming up next, the country's best fall festivals, if you're planning a weekend getaway.

but first this is "today" on nbc.

this morning on "today's travel," a roundup of the nation's best fall festivals from wines to scarecrows, there's something for everyone this year. kate maxwell is editor-in-chief of jetsetter.com. i've got kids, like to do the corn mazes, apple picking. we begin with st. charles, illinois. >> there's a scarecrow fest, believe it or not. this is a scarecrow extravaganza. there's something like 150 handcrafted scarecrows there, on the banks of the fox river, just 45 minutes outside chicago, so you get to do some leaf peeping at the same time. the landscape is stunning. can you make your own scarecrow. last year there were harry potter scarecrows, pirates of the caribbean scarecrows, petty

zoo, really, really fun. >> extravaganza indeed. quick drive from chicago. 30 minutes outside of portland to the wilmette valley festival. >> it's a really up and coming wine region. 30 minutes outside portland. known in particular for hits pinot noirs, a harvest trail which costs $79. take in three wineries, learn about the wine-making process, tastings along the way and culminates with a grand tasting at the end of the day, really good fun. >> get to do it all in one fun? >> exactly. >> fall foliage, best places to be perhaps, in the adirondacks. >> at ron damage park is the largest park in the entire country, believe it or not. that means they have a very long leaf-turning season from mid-september all the way until the end of october so there's plenty of time to have a look at those leaves. also 1980 olympic winters were

there so there's a ski jumping competition >> you don't have to participate on the ski jump. you can look at the leaves. >> i'll just look at the leaves. i think that's a better idea. octoberfest, have to talk about that one. >> i don't always think about oklahoma might i do. >> might think germany. tulsa, oklahoma, the best in the country. there's barrel rolling and wonderful bavarian food, and your beer, of course, press ernie els and oom papa bands. >> the next best thing to munich. >> only governments $6. >> and a great music festival in new orleans. know about mardi gras and some of the other music festivals but a great one this time of year. >> the voodoo music experience. absolutely love new orleans. a great time to go there. bands like jack white and green day are playing there. lasts three days in city park. because this is new orleans, wonderful food, gumbo, oyster poor boys and you get a lot

there. >> your favorite of these if i put you on the spot, laid out five. if only one, i'd go to oregon because i love pinot noir. >> when it comes right down to it, leave the kids at home. >> you do the square crows and i'll do the wine. >> from jeans to skirts and

back now at 840, and this morning on "today's style" it's all about helms. changing from mini to maxies, hard to keep up. contributing style editor is here with the lange and short of it, shall we say. good morning to you. >> good morning, savannah. >> what are the rules on hem, and what's in this year had. >> in fashion you have to think of the trends on a spectrum, and

you have to sort of calibrate what's right for you. so, you know, regardless of age, there are two tests that you can do. you can do the seat test, if you can't sit down in a skirt and still maintain your dignity, it's probably too short. you're fine. you passed. >> fingertip rule, both of your arms down by your sides. you don't want the hemline to be above where your fingertips are so really easy. >> all right. what if you have really long arms? >> there's always exceptions to the rule, savannah, but, you know, even if you're in a bind with pants or something like that, wearing a different shoe and the hem is grazing the floor. a very easy fix, for under $10, hemming tape. >> what does this mean? >> instead of going to the tailor and fussing around with all the helms, do it yourself at home. stick it under the cuff and roll it up and voila. >> why did it take so long -- >> should have thought of that. >> let's bring out the models. the first look we're doing is the pencil skirt. >> pencil skirts are huge this fall, and they will always be a

staple. this is frederica and the rule of thumb is to leave about three inches between the bottom hem of the pencil skirt and the top of the boot. it is a classic fall look. that skirt is $50 at hsn. savannah, what's universally flattering on all women is for that hemline to just graze the top of the knee. >> not above the knee, sort of grazing the top of it. >> you'll hear me say that, grazing and skimming, sort of the theme of the hem. >> frederica, that looks great. >> great for date night. >> ankle late jeans this. can be a little bit tricky, whether you should wear flats or heels. >> this is particularly tricky if you had someone petite like our model stacy. you want to make sure if you're purchasing a pair of jeans and you are petite. look for a cropped pair because those go to 29-inch inseam as opposed to 32 or 33-inch inseam. anybody, wearing a jean with a flat, you want to make sure that the bottom hem length skims the back of the heel.

>> okay. >> so it should just go underneath your ankle bone. >> if you take these to the tailor to get hemmed, do you bring two different kinds of shoes. >> a pair of jeans that are your casual flat pair and a pair you wear with heels because in that case the hem would be longer. don't want to splurge on the two pairs, invest in themming tape, under $10. that's the way to do it. >>es blah is showing us trousers. >> isabella is going to work, very popular work trouser, and a lot of women don't know how exactly to do this. what you want to remember is that the back of the trouser should conceal most of the back of the shoe and let the heel pick out. you don't want it to be tripping length. you don't want to skim the floor, skim the heel. not trying to sweep the floor with our hemline. the front pleat of the pant should hit right around the middle of the foot. those pants are under $50 from limited. >> i love how you do the two prints together.

>> try to keep trending. >> that's a whole other look. >> and the last model indira, call it the boho chic look. >> i like to call this the mullet skirt, all party in the front and business in the back. what you want to look for with the hem length is something that's very gradual and that graduates into a longer hemline as opposed to something that's a hard edge, okay. the other thing you want to remember is to carry it with something like an ankle boot. sometimes matching the aesthetics of the skirt or pant with shoe is just as matching the proportion. pay close attention to that. put her in a little ankle booty from target. under $40, and the skirt's from h & m. >> let's bring the models out. didn't show a very long skirt. some people like to wear those, is there a rule over how long is too long? >> it shouldn't sweep the floor. skim or graze the back of your feet.

unless you're going to an event in a ball gown, the only time it's sweeping the floor. >> if you think it might be too short, it probably is. >> exactly. >> thank you. >> thanks, savannah. >> coming up next, spanning the world with len berman, but first this is "today" on nbc.

we're back now at 8:46 with a wild ride through the wonderful wacky world of sports with our great friend, len berman. >> september featured u.s. open tennis and replacement refs, but what were truly the top sports stories? let's go spanning the world. ♪ >> unbelievable! >> yeah. on your mark, get set, play ball. the best catch with no glove. jayson werth. washington. >> hey. here's the best catch with one glove, jason repko, pawtucket red sox, and he's got it. the best catch with two gloves. pablo sandoval for the giants. he doesn't get it. brandon crawford does. let's give sandoval another chance. he blows the bubble, pops it and

goes over the railing and hangs on. yes, he's got it. >> that's multi-tackle. >> our oops of the month. perfect pass in pennsylvania high school football right off the referee's head, and it made that noise. in brazil the goalie does not -- well, he does make the save and then he doesn't make it. at the celebrity tennis match actor kevin james shows how not to execute the between the show shot. go get them, kevin. our fan of the month, in the black shut at the white sox game, he does not catch the foul ball. well, let's give him another chance, and he doesn't catch that one either. same game, two chances. the best move of the month. the paralympic ping-pong player. >> wow. >> that's an amazing shot. >> that's a ridiculous shot. >> make up your move. worst move, andre parker of penn state. looks like a great run, going the wrong way. picked up a muffed punt. that doesn't matter, because us

a know, can you not advance the muffed punt, so never mind. the old college spirit, the boise state college cheerleader gets crushed from behind but gets up smiling. she's tough. good for her. way to go. and the cincinnati band member, he stumbles down the steps, and he breaks his trumpet, and there's his mouth piece on the field, and in true showbiz fashion he plays along anyway, air trumpet. animals of the mouth. at the open the squirrel who probably thought that tennis balls were just nuts, and in the mississippi high school football game. that's a skunk running on the field, and the cheerleaders urge him on. yeah, go skunk. however, the other team's cheerleaders much closer to the skunk, you know, not so much, no. and in iran the soccer player thought it was a good idea to pick up a loose object off the field, and he tosses it over. turns out it was a live grenade.

>> oh, my gosh. >> whoa! >> but nobody got hurt. >> and -- >> nobody got hurt. >> what an ending. >> love about the penn state guy going the other way and the other guy tackled him. >> everyone was confused. >> we've got to talk about your new book "the greatest moments in sports, upsets and underdogs." >> i'm excited. turns out to write a sports book and it's a book of empowerment. tells young people no matter what color or sex or stripe of nationality, you can succeed and you can overcome obstacles and overcome the odds so i'm very proud of the fact that it empowers youngsters. >> you tell a lot of great stories. some very well known. some aren't. is your favorite "the miracle on ice". >> has to be considered the greatest upset in sports. everyone knows where it happened. it won't happen again because the nhl players play in olympic hockey. a wonderful moment.

>> cassius clay, the greatest, but a lot of people didn't think he was the greatest when he started out, right? >> when he was cassius clay and he said i'm the greatest, people thought he is was first trash talker, brash young man. goes to fight sunny lifton, think liston is going to easily win. when he doesn't get off the stool for the seventh round he's the greatest as heavyweight champ. >> i love shining the light on alethea gibson, know about jackie robson. don't talk enough about her. >> female jackie robinson. first person male or female to play at wimbledon and u.s. open and first to win both of them and won them twice and she was forced to ride the back of the bus in north carolina where upset her. always said it was such an honor to shake the hand of shaking the hand of queen of england offer having to ride the back of the bus. >> billy mills. >> amazing story, native american, grew up poor on an indian reservation, won the gold

medal in the 10,000 meters in the 1964 olympics in tokyo. totally unknown. when the race was over they asked the favorite, the world record holder from australia, they asked him were you worried about billy mills? worried about him, never met the guy. >> tell a great story more recently, a high school basketball player, jason mcilwain, we all got to know and love that story. tell bus him. >> love the story, autistic youngster near austin, student manager for his entire career. let him suit up for the last game of the senior year. he suited up and let him get in the game for the last 4:19. leads the team in scoring with 20 points. sets a record. six three-pointers and carry him off the court on their shoulders. the best part was the pretty girls in school who wouldn't look at him before would now talk to him and top of this president george w. bush diverts his plane to go meet jason mcilwain. >> gives me the chills.

>> from jason mcilwain to buster doug larks got to love that book. >> my kids appreciate it already. bedtime stories. >> and comes with a cd of best play by play moments. >> and we'll do one more round of ask "away today." >> get the glasses on. >> did the public demand more after the last round? >> whoa, baby. >> just grab a couple. >> all right. give him the goingles. >> savannah guthrie, would cycle central park with me. william hutchins springfield, missouri. >> how many miles was that? >> well, the loop is six miles around, so that's probably. >> i can do that. >> sure. >> lots of padding for you, savannah. what else? >> all right. >> do you pack your lunch? >> i do. >> i pack my snacks every day. i bring them in. what about you, willie? >> pack it in the dark though at

about 4:00 in the morning. never quite know what you're going to get. >> i made oatmeal this morning before coming in. >> you did? >> homemade. >> homemade, the old-fashioned kind. >> are you allowed to legitimately call out sick? if so what, happens? kim payne, lincecum, maryland. >> natalie, why don't you take this one. >> clearly i probably should have called out sick and instead i infected everyone here. all the producers who have my cold, sorry. it's hard to call out sick when we're so busy all the time and making that call at 2:00 a.m., hey, by the way, i'm hacking up a lung, doesn't go over well. >> it doesn't feel guilty because you know someone else's morning just got -- >> someone being woken up without having time not to sleep. >> try not to call in sick. >> this is a good one. do the "today" women wear spanx for the show? >> i'm not wearing any now. >> i'm not either.

>> i'm wearing manx. >> you feel like you need a little extra support. >> makes the lines look so much slimmer. >> yeah, it pulls it all together. >> sometimes we do though. >> no, we do. >> depends on the outfit. >> that's very personal. >> thanks so much. >> way too much information, len berman. >> thanks. still ahead, new inventions for parents to make your lives a little bit easier. but first on a friday morning, and a rainy one, too, a check of your local news and weather.

>> this is wbal-tv 11 news in baltimore. >> good morning. i am mindy basara. city police are investigating a deadly shooting in southwest baltimore. an 18-year-old woman was shot in the head just after 9:00 last night. she died overnight.

>> good morning. last night in the early morning hours we had some rain in the area. during the day, a mixture of clouds and sunshine. depending on how much sunshine weekend, up 70's to around 80's for the high. they ended the day, maybe a shower, mostly south.